


Pretty Girl

by in_the_next_life



Series: The Sweethearts Collection [7]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Multi, Polyamory, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 18:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17792132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/in_the_next_life/pseuds/in_the_next_life
Summary: Watching her, Demyx sometimes wondered what it was like to be on the receiving end of that kind of easy-going affection.





	Pretty Girl

When it was warm, she came out to the beach in the fairly often; Demyx saw her now and then, sometimes lugging an easel and sometimes with just a sketchpad tucked under her arm. From across the way, he would watch her kick off her sandals and settle herself in the sand, or tuck herself under a tree and paint and draw until the sun went down. He kept an eye on her from his usual busking spot, always nervous to see her out so late by herself. 

Almost always, though, someone came to collect her. It was someone different every time. 

He recognized a few of them; it seemed like some of their circles may have overlapped, but not quite enough to touch. She had so many friends….or lovers? She was affectionate with all of them, greeting them with kisses and twining their hands together and laughing as they left the beach and the boardwalk behind. Watching her, Demyx sometimes wondered what it was like to be on the receiving end of that kind of easy-going affection.

It was winter now, though. The boardwalk was quiet in the winter, the sea too cold for most to enjoy the sightseeing and subsequently, there was less business for the performers that could usually be found dotting the length of it. Demyx himself subsisted primarily off of gigs he could find at local bars during this part of the year, and it was from one such gig that he was walking back home when he saw her again. 

She was standing barefoot in the sand with her shoes kicked off, abandoned beside her. Just standing there, watching the tide roll in, in the middle of February. With no shoes on.

He could hardly tell it was her at first. It was so late that even if it hadn’t been the middle of winter, the boardwalk would probably have been empty. The light from the moon and the street lamps hardly caught her hair and clothes, but when he squinted and stopped to look, he knew it had to be her. 

It was an odd sight in the middle of the night. More than anything, it made him worry.

He wasn’t one to be subtle though, so he leaned over the railing and yelled at the top of his lungs,

“Hey pretty girl, are you okay?!”

It startled her. Her head snapped around toward him and she froze. 

“Shit! Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you!”

The tension in her shoulders seemed to drop away as she made him out as the source of the interruption.  
“Oh! Hi Demyx!” She shouted back, waving up at him, her lips turning up into a smile. “I’m okay!”

It caught him off guard to hear her say his name. “You know who I am?”

“Yeah! You’re Xion’s friend Demyx, right?” She picked up her shoes from beside her and started to walk back toward the stairs through the sand. He watched her kick some sand up in the air with her foot before doing a little spin with both her arms out. It was graceful and clumsy all at once.

“Y-yeah. That’s me!” 

“She talks about you sometimes. And I’ve seen you play out here, too! You’re very good.”

The girl clambered back up the stairs quickly and was at his side in no time. She sat down on the nearest bench with a quiet thud, the light from the lamps overhead bleaching her already blonde hair an even whiter shade. She tugged her flats back on one at a time. “Sorry, I guess I must look pretty weird out there…”

Demyx shook his head. “It’s alright. I was just headed home and I usually don’t see people out here this late. Do you come out here a lot this time of year?” 

She finished with her shoes and stood, dusting the sand off her pants with a few light pats. “I think the beach gets lonely in the Winter. So I like to come visit her sometimes. Don’t want her to think I’ve forgotten about her.” She glanced out at the tide again, crossing her arms over the railing and taking a deep breath in as if trying to get the salt to bury itself in her lungs. 

“I think forgetting about someone is the saddest thing that you can do.”

Demyx knew how to play the blues, but apparently this girl knew how to write them.

“Well, I’m sure she appreciates the attention. Don’t your feet get cold out there though?” 

She hid a giggle behind one hand at that comment. It was a sound that made his heart beat just a slight bit faster than it had been beating before. “A little. But I like to feel the sand between my toes, even when it’s cold!” 

“Well, to each her own, I guess.”

“I’m Namine, by the way,” She finally said after a moment of the two of them just looking out at the waves rolling in. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Oh yeah? Are the rumors about me true? Do I live up to all the hot gossip?”

That elicited another small laugh from her, much to his delight. “Something like that.”

“Ohhh, that can’t be good,” Demyx grinned back, re-adjusting the strap of his guitar case over his shoulder. He glanced up and down the empty boardwalk before turning back to her. “Do you want me to walk you home? Xion would probably have my ass if I didn’t at least offer.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’d...like that,” She accepted his offer with a flash of pearly white teeth and cute little dimples appeared in her cheeks. If he hadn’t been smitten already, that would have been the nail in the coffin. 

“Lead the way, Namine!”

She started ahead of him before turning around, walking backwards with her arms tucked behind her back and a playful look in her eyes. “You could always keep calling me ‘Pretty Girl’, you know. Can’t say I mind it too much.”

Demyx tried to fight the blush that was lighting his ears up all pink but it was useless. 

“You got it, then, Pretty Girl.”

They walked on like that, side by side, letting the conversation unfold as they traveled through the chilly night. They traded stories and smiles until before they knew it, they were already at the door to her duplex saying a quiet goodnight. She closed the door slowly, waving goodbye the whole time. When it finally shut, he found himself missing the sight of her perfect little dimples already.

He pulled his phone out of his watch to check the time. It was 12:03 pm. There was a text from Axel. 

'Happy Valentine’s Day. How’d the gig go?'

With one glance back at Namine’s door, Demyx stepped off the porch and started back towards his apartment complex before texting back.

'Went well. Met a pretty girl.'


End file.
